Business Briefs
Star-Bulletin staff
and wire services
|
FAST FACTS HAWAII
'Disadvantaged' vendors sought
The state Department of Health Environmental Program is urging minority- and women-owned businesses to apply to the U.S. Small Business Administration at 541-2990 for certification as a Section 8 business, or to the state Department of Transportation at 587-2023 for certification as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise.
Beginning Oct. 1, only certified, minority-owned and women-owned businesses can participate in the Environmental Protection Agency's "fair share" purchasing program. "Fair share" refers to EPA's policy that small, minority, and women-owned businesses be afforded maximum practical opportunity to participate as contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and otherwise in EPA-awarded financial assistance programs.
Verizon Wireless expands reach
Verizon Wireless, which has invested more than $116 million in its wireless network In Hawaii over the past five years, said a new cell site has increased coverage on the North Shore along Kamehameha Highway, as well as Laniakea, Waimea Bay and surrounding areas.
The company said it has a 30-day network test drive pledge that pays for calls if a customer is not satisfied and switches to another carrier.
HTH Corp. to manage Waikiki hotel
The owner of the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki is terminating a management contract with an affiliate of
Outrigger Enterprises Group.
Owner HTH Corp. will assume management of the 837-room hotel as of Dec. 1.
Outrigger's affiliate, PBH Management LLC, has been managing the hotel on the corner of Kalakaua and Liliuokalani avenues since Jan. 1.
After months of working together, both companies concluded that Pacific Beach Corp. "is better positioned to focus on this perfectly located hotel and to attain the property's long-term business goals," said Robert "Mick" Minicola, HTH regional vice president.
He added that both companies will work to ensure that there are minimal interruptions in the transition.
In 1970, the late Herbert T. Hayashi bought the hotel, known for its indoor three-story Oceanarium. HTH also owns the 359-room Pagoda Hotel.
China's trade surplus soars 67%
BEIJING » China's trade surplus soared 67 percent in July from a year ago to its second-highest monthly level on record, according to data reported Friday, amid pressure by U.S. lawmakers to sanction Beijing over trade and currency disputes.
July's surplus totaled $24.4 billion, the Chinese customs agency reported. That beat every previous month except June's all-time high of $26.9 billion.
Analysts had expected the surplus to ease in July after exporters rushed to ship goods in earlier months to beat changes in tax policy meant to narrow China's yawning trade gap.
BRIEF CASE
Gannett speculation. Gannett's chairman moves to quash "unwarranted" speculation that the company would be the next newspaper publisher for sale, telling employees in a companywide memo to "relax."
Bad debt. Shares of Countrywide Financial Corp. fell nearly 7 percent after the nation's biggest mortgage lender said in a filing that "unprecedented disruptions" in debt markets could continue or worsen.
Stock surge. Shares of MercadoLibre Inc., a Latin American online-auction site partly owned by eBay Inc., surged 58 percent on their first day of trading after the company raised $289.4 million in an initial stock sale.
BUSINESS PULSE